Articles related to "Pipeline politics? Russia and the EU's battle for energy"

Ukraine and Russia are embroiled in a new gas dispute after Moscow sent Kyiv a huge bill for gas it commissioned under long-term contracts but did not use. Asked by EurActiv if there was a risk of a repeat of the 2009 gas crisis, the European Commission said it expected both sides to make sure that shipments to the EU remain uninterrupted.

Ukraine, embittered by Russia's unwillingness to cut prices for its gas, said on 12 September it would try to resume imports of the fuel from Turkmenistan.

Russia's growing oil exports to Asia and the Baltic have unsettled European traders and refiners, who fear shortages on the Black Sea and in Central Europe should Russian output stall or decline.

Poland is preventing EU companies from buying its surplus Russian gas, infringing EU internal market rules, the European Commission said yesterday (14 July).

The European Parliament passed a draft regulation on 25 February allowing the European Commission to obtain more information about major energy projects planned in EU member states. The move was hailed as a step towards a more coordinated EU energy policy.

Russia said it had resumed flows of crude to refineries in Belarus but it did not clinch a deal to resolve a tense price dispute with Minsk, which had raised fears that oil supplies to European Union countries might be blocked. The Russian press reported that Minsk is threatening to cut electricity supply to the Kalingrad enlave.

An agreement easing the terms under which Russia supplies gas to Ukraine, reached on 19 November between Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Ukraine colleague Yulia Tymoshenko, appears to alleviate fears of another gas crisis this winter.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin won Slovenia's approval on 14 November for the South Stream pipeline, undermining European Union efforts to reduce dependency on Russian gas supplies.

Russia has obtained all the permits necessary to build its 'South Stream' gas pipeline through Turkish territorial waters, discarding Bulgaria as one of the project's transit countries, the Russian press writes today (20 October).

Poland has refused to support former Finish Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen's candidacy as EU foreign policy chief, on the grounds that he works for Gazprom on the Nord Stream pipeline project. EurActiv Poland reports.

The European Investment Bank is ready to help finance the 7.9 billion euro Nabucco pipeline and to look closely at the concept of creating a single gas purchaser to ensure the project is viable, the bank said on 23 July.

The European Commission yesterday (16 July) proposed a new regulation on the security of gas supplies, obliging member states to take pre-emptive measures to avoid disruptions in the wake of a January dispute between Russia and Ukraine.

Four EU countries and Turkey signed an agreement yesterday (13 July) on the legal framework for the Nabucco gas pipeline, which is expected to decrease Europe's dependence on Russian gas. Iraq has pledged to supply the pipeline with half of its capacity, without giving a detailed timeframe.

Ukraine and Russia began talks with international lenders and the European Union yesterday (29 June) on loans to help Kiev pay for Russian gas and avert a new crisis that could cut off supplies to Europe.

Eight Baltic Sea states last week (17 June) launched an action plan to connect Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to EU energy networks, providing a signpost for the Swedish Presidency's agenda for the Baltic Sea region.

Energy ministers moved to address the EU's supply security on Friday (12 June) by reaching political agreement on minimum oil stocks of 90 days.

Current stocks in the Ukraine will be too low to ensure normal flows of Russian gas to Europe this coming winter, Moscow warned yesterday (26 May), saying disruptions could occur if Kiev does not find the money to replenish reserves.

The European Union moved to curb its heavy dependence on Russian gas on 8 May by signing an agreement to smoothe the way for more gas imports from the Caspian region.

An extraordinary EU meeting in Prague on 8 May will try to break the deadlock over a proposed 'Southern Corridor' for natural gas, as the Czech Presidency tries to drum up support for the Nabucco pipeline project, EurActiv has learned.

Energy, trade, investment and security will be at the heart of EU-Russia partnership negotiations, according to Russian academic Andrei V. Zagorski. The expert, from the Moscow State Institute for International Relations, told EurActiv Slovakia in an interview that he expected progress to be slow, but expressed optimism that the outcome would be successful.

An energy summit to be held in the Bulgarian capital on 24-25 April is expected to boost the South Stream gas pipeline project favoured by Russian state monopoly Gazprom, the Bulgarian press reports.

Construction of the EU-supported gas pipeline project Nabucco will begin in 2011, according to Reinhard Mitschek, managing director of Nabucco Gas Pipeline International. In an interview with Dnevnik, EurActiv's partner in Bulgaria, Mitschek gave more details of the consortium's plans.

In an attempt to convince a Russian oil firm executive that the EU is not trying to limit his country's capital investment in the Union, Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs in fact ended up advertising that firm at a public event held in Brussels yesterday (26 March).

Against all odds, South Eastern Europe's electricity grid was able to withstand soaring consumption during the January gas crisis between Russia and Ukraine. Collapse in any of the countries would have triggered a long-lasting regional blackout, experts told EurActiv.

The Nord Stream gas pipeline project has just taken an important step by publishing its environmental assessment report, and construction can begin in early 2010, Sebastian Sass, head of Nord Stream's EU representation, told EurActiv in an exclusive interview.

The European Union is 'very concerned' about the risk of a new gas crisis after recent comments from Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Commission chief José Manuel Barroso said yesterday (5 March).

EU energy ministers will meet today (19 February) to agree on six priority "axes" to strengthen Europe's energy security, including a yet-to-be-defined 'South Corridor' for gas, which is threatening to split Europeans over Russia's possible participation.

Concern about the worsening global recession will be at the centre of discussions as an EU delegation of nine commissioners, led by Commission President José Manuel Barroso, arrives in Moscow today (6 February), analysts and sources told EurActiv.

Lawmakers in the European Parliament are considering inviting Russia to join the Union's Nabucco gas pipeline project, to avoid competition with rival projects sponsored by Moscow in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine gas dispute.

For the first time, Czech Prime Minister and current EU president Mirek Topolánek has deviated from the official Brussels stance of minimising the relevance of Russia's 'South Stream' gas pipeline by describing it as a "direct threat" to the EU's preferred Nabucco project.

Gazprom will pay no compensation for recent gas supply disruptions to Bulgaria and Slovakia, the countries worst affected by the gas crisis, which affected Russian gas supplies to 18 European countries this winter, writes Dnevnik, EurActiv's partner in Bulgaria.

Leading energy experts yesterday (19 January) asked difficult questions in the European Parliament about the future of the EU's flagship Nabucco gas pipeline project, which is seen by many as a panacea for decreasing the Union's dependence on Russian imports.

The European Commission has reacted cautiously to a deal struck between Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian colleague Yulia Timoshenko on Saturday night (17 January), saying the crisis will not be over until supplies to Europe are resumed.

The Bulgarian and Slovak prime ministers returned from Moscow empty-handed yesterday (14 January), in what appears to be a poorly coordinated attempt to secure gas supplies, just as European Commission President José Manuel Barroso warned Russia of legal action over the crisis.

Expectations that the Ukraine-Russia gas dispute would be resolved swiftly were shattered yesterday (13 January) after the two sides exchanged further accusations, leaving Europeans cold for a second week.

Telephone diplomacy achieved optimistic but inconclusive results yesterday night (8 January), after Czech Prime Minister and current EU presidency holder Mirek Topolánek announced from Prague that he had reached a breakthrough with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

Russia and Ukraine have left Europe without gas for Orthodox Christmas Day (7 January), with each country continuing to blame the other for unprecedented supply disruptions which have totally eclipsed the 2006 crisis.

Russia ordered a cut in natural gas supplies to the EU via Ukraine yesterday (5 January) over a payments dispute. But EU representatives meeting at short notice played down the repercussions of the decision for Europe.

The European Union's plans to break up energy monopolies pose a direct threat to Russia's own hopes to maintain and enlarge its domination of energy markets in several EU member states, says Eugene Chausovsky.

"The current debate on energy security between the EU and Russia – which has to-date yielded much drama but little success – will remain extremely dynamic and could perhaps help to amplify the debate on global energy governance" in 2010, predicts Anna Aseeva, a graduate of the Geneva Institute of International and Development Studies.

"It seems that the strategic interests of most EU countries versus Russia are actually similar," write Adam Balcer, Adam Jasser and Paweł Świeboda of the Polish foundation 'Demos EUROPA' in a November paper analysing the task facing new EU High Representative Catherine Ashton in winning the confidence of Europe's citizens.

The entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty and the conclusion of the 24th EU-Russia summit in Stockholm show that relations between Europe and Russia are at a critical juncture, writes George Bovt in a November article for the EU-Russia Centre.

The EU must "restore self-confidence and cohesion" in its policy towards Russia, argues Arkady Moshes, programme director of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, in a February paper for the Robert Schuman Foundation.